Benham. — On the Lesser Sperm Whale. 



155 



Measurements of Head. Ft. in. 



Gape 



Tip of snout to anterior corner of eve 



Eye- 

 Length 

 Height 



Ear- 

 Distance from posterior angle of eye 

 Length of auditory cleft . . 



Nostrils (blowholes) — 



Tip of snout to anterior end 



Length of nostril 



Distance between anterior ends 



posterior ends . . 



Length of median internasal furrow 



Pectoral fin — 



Distance from snout 

 Breadth of base 

 Length along preaxial margin 

 postaxial margin 

 Breadth (greatest) 



Caudal fluke- 

 Breadth (sreatest) at end 

 Length, from rooi* 

 Length, behind end of body* 



Breadth of body at base of c.f. 



[After this article was set up I received from Sir William 

 Turner his account of "The Lesser Eorqual in Scottish Seas," 

 in Proc. E.S. Edin., 1892, xix., p. 36, in which he gives full 

 details of external anatomy of several specimens. I regret 

 that I cannot make use of the facts for comparison.] 



Aet. XIII. — Notes on Cogia breviceps, the Lesser Sperm 



Whale. 



By W. B. Benham, D.Sc, MA., F.Z.S., Professor of Biology, 



Otago University . 



[Read before the Otago Institute, 8th October, 1901.] 



On the 30th August, 1900, I heard from Mr. Stronach, of 

 Dunedin, that a small whale had been beached at Purakanui, 

 and at once arranged to go down next day with the taxider- 

 mist, Mr. E. Jennings, to inspect it. On our arrival we 

 ascertained that the whale had been driven ashore on the 

 preceding Friday — just a week before. We obtained the 

 services of Mr. Ewart, the fisherman living at the entrance of 

 the bay, who rowed us across to the sandy spit that projects 



* Measured three days after death. The sides had curved somewhat. 

 The length is too great. 



